


The Place He Died

by mendacium_dulce (lux_veritatis)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Asylum Horror, Horror, M/M, Truth or Dare, gone wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 16:30:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21200696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lux_veritatis/pseuds/mendacium_dulce
Summary: After an innocent game of Truth or Dare with Ron, Hermione, and the twins, Harry explores the abandoned Hogwarts Asylum.





	The Place He Died

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DreamerMichiyo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamerMichiyo/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [DreamerMichiyo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamerMichiyo/pseuds/DreamerMichiyo) in the [October_Flash_Fest_Part_Two](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/October_Flash_Fest_Part_Two) collection. 

> **Prompt:**  
  
An innocent truth and dare game turns into a horror night for Harry.  
Someone dares him to spend the night inside the Hogwarts Asylum and not one to back down he agrees to do it. He never really believed in ghosts or demons anyway so he thinks it will be easy. 
> 
> Harry will soon regret his actions when something or someone haunts him and he is unable to leave. (Can be Voldemort or Tom)
> 
> \---
> 
> Big thanks to Ascended_Sleepers for again being the best beta ever <3

The game of Truth or Dare between Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the twins had started out innocent enough. After a moment of struggling, Ron had kissed a blushing Hermione on the mouth, and the twins had admitted that at times, their pranks were really just a plea for attention – attention that was difficult to receive in a family as big as the Weasleys and with brothers so distinguished as Bill, Charlie, and Percy.

Finally, the bottle pointed at Harry.

“Truth or dare, Harry?” the twins sang.

“Dare. Obviously.”

“Like a real troublemaker. Right, George?”

“Indeed, Fred. We're very proud of you, Harry.”

“Now... What shall we make you do?”

There was a glint in the twins' eyes that could only mean trouble, yet Harry had faced enough danger on his own volition to not be braced for anything the the two chief troublemakers could dish out.

After a long moment of dramatic pondering, interrupted by multiple instances of the twins whispering to each other about how dangerous one particular dare was and how they didn't want to get Harry killed (it was obvious that it was but a poor attempt to scare him), they finally turned to him, having reached a consent.

“D'you know about that old building right behind us?”

“It's the Hogwarts Asylum”

“Very dangerous.”

“Potentially haunted.”

“We want you to go and explore it.”

“Spend the night there.”

“You're so quiet, Harry.”  
  
“Scared already?”

“You've got to be kidding me,” Harry scoffed. “This has got to be the least frightening dare I've ever heard. I'll do it.”

“You can't just break into the Asylum,” Hermione interjected. “That's trespassing, Harry. A serious offense if someone catches you.”

“Oh, come on, Hermione,” Harry said. “That building's been deserted for decades. No one's gonna care if I pay those so-called ghosts a visit.”

“Yeah, don't be so stuck up about rules no one cares about,” Ron chimed in. “Let our best mate have his moment.”

Hermione pursed her lips. “Fine. Just don't say I didn't warn you when you do get into trouble.”  
  


***

  
At first, there was nothing unusual about exploring the Asylum other than the fact that the building was old and visibly deserted, yet when Harry entered the treatment rooms, he couldn't prevent a frigid shiver from running down his spine, for the devices used to 'treat' and examine the insane had been left behind. There were devices for holding a patient's head and body in place – devices not allowing for movement of any kind – devices he recognized as being used for electroshock therapy as well as various meticulously labeled tools and instruments used for lobotomy or other outdated 'treatments' that were equally horrible, and the shudder coursing through Harry's body as he vividly imagined the screams of the distraught patients was strong and visible.

Perhaps, it wasn't such a non-frightening dare, after all.

It was just when Harry wanted to look for a bed to sleep in that he picked up on the sound of slow, approaching footsteps, and his instincts were screaming at him to run, his heart clamoring in his chest, yet instead of listening to his gut, he took a deep breath and stopped in his tracks.

“How very funny, Fred and George,” he deadpanned, waiting for a reply or for laughter that didn't come.

“Why not show yourself already?” he continued. “I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to scare me. Trick me into losing our game by running outside. Such a shame that you failed right away.”

When there was still no reply, he sighed heavily.

_'Leave it to the twins to be that stubborn'_, he thought, and suddenly, his spite reared its ugly head.

Truth was, the twins had scared him by making him see the horrors inflicted upon innocent patients, and it was time to pay them back. Hiding in he corner closest to him, he waited for the twins to catch up with him, preparing to reveal himself and give them a good scare the very moment they did so, and as the footsteps came closer, and closer, Harry jumped out.

“Got you!” he exclaimed with a bold grin – a grin that vanished from his features the very moment that he stood face to face with his pursuer.

Instead of the twins, there was a handsome young man with perfectly coiffed dark hair and chiseled features who was gazing at him calmly and inquisitively, and Harry's mouth fell open.

“Who are you?” he blurted out.

“My name is Tom Riddle. And you are...?”

Even his voice was beautiful and melodious.

“I'm Harry. Harry Potter,” Harry responded, not thinking about potential consequences of revealing his name despite his intruder status.

“In that case, it's a pleasure to meet you, Harry,” Tom said before asking, “But pray tell, what are you doing here at this late hour?”

“It was a dare,” Harry responded truthfully, scratching the back of his neck. “I'm supposed to explore the Asylum and stay the night. But what are you doing here? Does this place belong to you? If so, I'm sorry for trespassing. I'll leave right away, dare or not.”

“One could say that. However, I'd rather like it if you stayed. Truth be told, I've been rather lonely.”

“Then why don't you go to town from time to time? Talk to people. And I mean, you must get your food from somewhere, right?”  
  
“That I can't. You see, Harry, I am tied to this place. I couldn't leave even if I wished to.”

At that, Harry's eyebrows rose to his hairline. As charming as Tom was, he couldn't possibly be speaking the truth. Harry didn't want to believe that he was a part of the twins' prank, but the more he spoke, the less likely it seemed that he was speaking the truth.

“I can sense that you do not believe me,” Tom sighed. “However, I cannot fault you. When I was still alive, I, too, refused to believe in everything supernatural. Yet after my death, I was forced to accept that there is more to this world than meets the eye.”

When Harry was just about to call Tom out on being in cahoots with the twins, Tom waved his hand, and a fire lit in the fireplace in the room they were standing in front of.

“Are you more inclined to believe me now?” Tom asked almost nonchalantly.

“There's got to be a trick to what you did,” Harry retorted stubbornly. “Something like a remote. But I reckon there's no harm in playing along with your game. What d'you want from me?”

“If it's not too much trouble, I'd like you to listen to my story.”

“I can do that.”

The smile Tom gave him in response made Harry's heart stutter, and by now, he was grateful to the twins that they had arranged for such a handsome, charming man, who was exactly his type, to keep him company, even more so when Tom cupped his cheeks and breathed, “You're too kind. If you'd please follow me...”

Harry must have imagined the shiver that went down his spine in immediate response as he followed Tom inside the room in which he had just lit a fire.

Unlike the rooms Harry had explored before, this one was furnished comfortably with a cushioned couch facing the fireplace and a delicate tea table made of wood that even to Harry looked expensive. It must have been the room of a doctor or an overseer rather than a patient.

Tom approached the couch and took a seat, crossing his elegant long legs before patting the seat next to him, and Harry couldn't prevent the soft blush that colored his cheeks as he complied with Tom's request.

It was a blush that darkened all but immediately, for Tom wrapped his arm around Harry's shoulder the very moment he had sat down and pulled him flush against him.

“Are you comfortable, Harry?”  
  
“Err, yeah,” Harry sheepishly admitted, for Tom's scent in particular was divine and intoxicating, and it was impossible for him to resist the urge to inhale more deeply.

“Are you ready to hear my story?” Tom asked, and when Harry nodded his head, he said, “Good.”

Looking at Harry with an unreadable gaze, Tom began, “Do you know how many patients were discharged from this place while it was still operating?” He paused. “The answer is none, for the doctors prioritized their research over the patients' recovery. You see, I was one of them. A patient admitted after the war. I had no family or friends to speak of, no losses I feared. It was one of the matrons at the orphanage I had stayed at who suggested that I must have been possessed by the devil as I hadn't shed a single tear after an attack with an especially high number of casualties. My worst nightmare began that day.”  
  
“But that's horrible! You were just a child! And you must've been incredibly lonely to have felt that way.”  
  
“Indeed. I was very lonely even then. But if it's alright for me to resume my story... The researchers quickly concluded that I must have had a split personality, that the trauma I had experienced in my childhood must have been so severe that my mind itself had shattered from the impact. They restrained me whenever I didn't display what they considered 'appropriate' reactions, and soon, they turned to electroshock treatment. I'm assuming you have seen the instruments they used. How _barbaric_ they are. After more than a decade of medically rationalized torture, I finally passed.”

From the way Tom's voice shook as he told his story, there was no longer any doubt in Harry's mind that he was speaking the truth, and Harry was shaken. Never before had his heart bled and ached for another to this extend.

Wrapping his arms around Tom in return, he confessed, “There's nothing I could say that'll express how sorry I am this happened to you... and how much of a jerk I was when I doubted you before. If there's anything I can do to make you feel better, don't hesitate to let me know.”

“Truth be told, it felt good to have someone validate that I lived, that I existed. The fact that no one has done so before is the reason I've been trapped in this place for so long. There is nothing else you could do for me. Except, perhaps, a personal favor.”

“Anything.”  
  
“In that case, please hold still. Close your eyes...”

Harry's heart rate accelerated when he did as he was told and another shiver went down his spine, yet at the same time, there was also excitement and anticipation.

Was Tom actually going to kiss him?  
  
He sighed when indeed Tom's soft lips brushed against his with so much tenderness. He wanted to pull him closer, prevent him from ending the kiss too soon, for never before had Harry experienced this kind of bliss. However, he soon found that his hands wouldn't obey him, that not a single finger moved in response to his commands.

“Tom, what...?” he slurred, trying to open his eyes in vain, yet before he could hear Tom's response, he was already growing limp in Tom's hold and he was swallowed by a cold darkness.

  
***

  
Upon regarding Harry's unconscious form, Tom smiled darkly.

Finally, he would be able to leave the place where he'd been trapped by Dumbledore, the blasted sorcerer, and it was all thanks to one naïve boy, who had been willing to believe every word of his fabricated story. In fact, Tom had never been a patient at the Hogwarts Asylum, but the heir of one of the founders as well as the chief researcher.

For many decades, he had researched immortality in peace – that was, until he had made the grave mistake of killing Albus Dumbledore's sister Ariana instead of curing her various ailments in order to maintain the Asylum's pristine reputation that had led to researching conditions without any shortage of test subjects.

But now that he had found someone he could transfer the curse to, Tom was free – free to resume his research once again and craft himself a body and mind immune to the ravages of time.  
  


***

  
They had all been worried when Harry didn't return the next morning, and while the twins insisted that Harry must have been too comfortable to leave right away or decided to give them a scare in return, Ron could feel in his gut that something was very wrong. He shouldn't have agreed to sending Harry off to the Asylum so easily. What if he had gotten himself injured? What if the scene he had happened upon was so graphic he had fainted?

Only after two agonizing hours of exploring the horrifying Asylum had passed did Ron finally find Harry in what must have been the room of a doctor or an overseer, though by the time he had reached it, he was sweating and shaking, for the atrocities committed in this place were nothing short of frightening.

“They were sending electricity through my body,” Harry greeted him. His voice was flat and devoid of any emotion, and Harry himself was so, so pale. “Fixating me in one of those chairs when I screamed or _misbehaved_.”

“That's not funny, mate! Cut it out already!”

“In the end, they opened my skull and cut something out of my brain. That's how I died. None of my friends and family members remember me. No one cared enough to avenge me. That's why I'm trapped forever.” 


End file.
